How to Avoid Silo Mentality When Managing Cross-Functional Six Sigma Project Teams

From early on in your education, you have experience working in groups. Whether on presentations, final exam projects, or science labs, group work was mandatory. And in most cases, rightfully so. Working as a group to achieve one collective goal is a great way to combine resources, knowledge, and experiences. However, more often than not, we see group projects fail to be completely even in terms of workload. In this article, we will discuss Silo Mentality and how it can hinder your Six Sigma project teams.

What is ‘Silo Mentality’?

By definition, silo mentality is the mindset of resisting sharing information with others. In a group setting, this includes an inward-looking mentality, refusing to work on tasks not directly assigned, and avoiding other team members. In short, silo mentality can be a major setback to any group project. Likewise, silo mentality is becoming more widely seen across the workplace. In industries such as manufacturing, production, and logistics, this hindrance can cause a multitude of weaknesses.

How does it affect Six Sigma projects?

For Six Sigma project teams, silo mentality arises in a few areas. First, the difference in certification level, ‘Belts’, can lead to this mindset. When Yellow, Green, and Black Belts are working together as a team, the lower ranking belts may avoid tasks they see as “above their pay grade.” In other terms, there is less incentive for a Yellow Belt to speak out against a Black Belt’s mistake due to the seniority in ranking. The lower level belt may feel inclined to blindly follow a senior manager, without questioning problems that occur.

Next, silo mentality comes to the surface when management has a lack of authority over a project team. Black Belts, Master Black Belts, and Executives oversee Six Sigma projects at hand. If a manager lacks the respect and authority to lead the team, employees will be less likely to complete tasks on schedule, strive for quality management, or even follow basic operations.

Finally, discouraging employees from working alongside one another or assisting in other roles leads to silo mentality. If project team members are ingrained to only work on their specific tasks, avoiding others around them, an inward-facing focus will develop. Specifically, production and manufacturing roles are most at risk for this due to their strict standard operating procedures. A lack of encouragement to help others is a risk no employer should face.

How do you correct Silo Mentality?

The best way to correct silo mentality is two words; effective management. As a Six Sigma professional, your goal is to strive for business process improvements. Whether this is reducing production waste, increasing process efficiency, or improving customer communications, your focus should be on bettering your corporation. When you lead your project team correctly, they will respect your authority and follow your guidance closely. Additionally, properly demonstrating how and when certain tasks should be completed by will reduce the chance for silo mentality. This can be done by enforcing Six Sigma training courses for your employees, having routine check-up meetings, and outsourcing more managerial authority to other project leaders.